Why i love Kolkata....

Hmmm, Kolkata, my city, my life. The reasons which make Kolkata famous.....

• Kolkata is the home of India's Nobel Laureates. Namely "Rabindranath Tagore", "Mother Teresa "and "Amartya Sen". 3 out of 6 Nobel prize winners!!!

• Kolkata is the "Second largest city" in the country, with a population of 13,217,000.

• Kolkata has the second largest cricket stadium in the world, "The Eden Gardens", the biggest in Asia.

• It has the world's third highest capacity football stadium and the biggest football stadium in Asia, "The Salt Lake Stadium".

• The "Cricket and Football Club - CCFC" in kolkata is the second oldest cricket club in the world.

• It boasts of having the very first "Metro" in India, that too at a time when the very thought of having metro trains in India were impossible.
  

• The one and only home of the "Trams" in India.

• Kolkata has the largest open park, "The Maidan", third in the world after New york state park and the Hyde park in London.

• The home of India's most successful test cricket captain, and the record holder for the maximum number of centuries in one day internationals after Sachin Tendulkar, and India's most successful ODI captain "Sourav Ganguly".

• 75% of the players in the Indian "Football" team is from Kolkata and is the home of major leagues and tournaments, having the best football clubs in India along with the IFA-The Indian Football Association.

• It is the home of the "Board of Control for Cricket in India(BCCI)".

• It is the home of India's Oscar winner "Satyajit Ray", considered by many film makers, Western and Eastern alike, to be among the four greatest directors of film history.

• Kolkata is the home of India's only Olympic medal winner in Tennis, "Leander Paes"

• It is the home of "Arjun Atwal", one of India's international golf players.

• The "Royal Calcutta Golf Club (RCGC)" is the second oldest golf club in the world, which was established in 1829 in Kolkata.

• Kolkata is the main business, commercial and financial hub of eastern India and the northeastern states. It is home to the "Calcutta Stock Exchange" - India's second-largest bourse. It is also a major commercial and military port, and the only city in the region to have an international airport.

• Kolkata houses "The Asiatic Society", "The Indian Statistical Institute", "The Indian Institute of Management", "The Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics", "The West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences", "The Marine Engineering and Research Institute" and "The Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER)".

• Kolkata has long been known for its literary, artistic and revolutionary heritage. As the former capital of India, Kolkata was the birthplace of modern Indian literary and artistic thought. Kolkatans tend to have a special appreciation for art and literature; its tradition of welcoming new talent has made it a "city of furious creative energy". The city also has a tradition of dramas in the form of jatra(a kind of folk-theatre), theatres and group theaters.

• The "Indian Museum" in Kolkata is the oldest museum in Asia.

• Kolkata houses the "National Library of India" which is India's leading library.

• Kolkata is the capital of the "Hindi theatre stage" in India.

• Kolkata has an eminent place in the history of American diplomacy as one of the oldest "American Consulates" anywhere in the world, and the oldest in India.

• The "Indian Botanical Gardens" is home of the world's largest banyan tree(the banyan tree with the biggest girth), which is around 240 years old.

• "The Kolkata Book Fair" is the world's largest non-trade book fair, Asia's largest book fair and the most attended book fair in the world. It is the world's third largest annual conglomeration of books after the Frankfurt Book Fair and the London Book Fair.
  

• "Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay" was one of the earliest Bengali novelists and is popularly known as the author of India's first national song, "Bande Mātarom" (pronounced in Hindi "Vande Mātāram").

• Calcutta University has been termed as the first modern university in the Indian subcontinent.

• The Bengal Engineering and Science University, Shibpur is the second oldest engineering university in India, although it is not directly in kolkata, but it's root is in kolkata.
  

• "Medical College", Kolkata is one of India's oldest medical institutions.

• The first college for women in India, the "Bethune College" was set up in 1879 in Kolkata.

• The "Indian Institute of Social Welfare and Business Management (IISWBM)" was set up in 1953 as the country's first management institute.

• It is the home of "Bipasha Basu", India's first Ford Supermodel of the World title holder and a notable actress.

• It is also the home of India's first Miss Universe title holder, "Susmita Sen".

• Home of the First Indian Woman to swim across the English Channel "Miss Arati Saha" and First Indian Man to swim across the English Channel "Mihir Sen".

• Kolkata houses the biggest "Reebok" store in Asia.

• The largest "Pizza Hut" restaurant in Asia.

• Kolkata the largest and the biggest selling outlet of Music World.

• The largest and the biggest selling outlet of Pantaloons.

• And who could forget that despite all the shortcomings, the difficulties and the pain, the people of kolkata always manage to put a smile of their face. That is why the city is named as "The City of Joy". The people of this city are also known for their helpfulness, their hospitability and their honesty!!
  

There are other facts which i have not been able to compile right now, but i promise to put forward those points in the days to come. If you guys want to input some info, plz write a comment, i'll upload those points.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Special Disclaimer: All the info may not be upto date and references have been drawn from http://www.wikipedia.com, http://www.calcuttaweb.com and searches from http://www.google.com